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Orioles minor league pitcher Steve Johnson is having a good year at Triple-A Norfolk. He is 1-3 with an ERA of 2.62 over eight games and has a batting average against of just .191.

Johnson has been on the disabled list since May 19 with a groin strain, but he has thrown two bullpen sessions recently and should be ready to rejoin the Tides rotation later this week, possibly on Friday.

That is, if he is still part of the Orioles organization then.

While no one is saying much publicly right now, Johnson reportedly has an out clause in his contract that would allow him to get out of his contract and leave the organization if he is not put on the 40-man roster by June 1.

The deadline for the O's to add him is midnight Friday. After that it is Johnson's choice whether to stay or leave his hometown team. If the O's elect to not put him on the 40-man and another team is ready to do that, Johnson could opt to go to the other club.

The 24-year-old right-hander was acquired by the Birds in the George Sherrill trade to the Dodgers of July 30, 2009. He was taken by San Francisco in the Rule 5 draft in December 2009 but was returned to the Orioles in March 2010.

The timing of his groin injury was not great for him with this deadline looming, but he sure has had a strong year, giving up just 30 hits over 44 2/3 innings with 13 walks and 36 strikeouts. Right-handed hitters are batting just .123 against him.

There appears to be a chance he would be willing to exercise his out and leave the club if he doesn't get added to the 40-man roster. The Orioles currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

When reached earlier today, Johnson said he would prefer not to comment. This figures to be an emotional few days for a kid from Baltimore who is having a very good year, but with the uncertainty over whether he will be with the club at this time next week

According to Melewski.I say they just put him on the 40 man. They are at 39 right now and I don't see them adding anyone else this season at the time being. If need be, they could also take Ryan Adams off since he has done nothing to increase his value.

He's pitched good, and I wouldn't be shocked to see him with the big league club at some point. I also would not be shocked to see him leave the club.

This would be a good time to DFA Ryan Adams. I see little chance of another team claiming him while he is on the DL.

Steve Johnson has EARNED a spot on the 40 Man Roster. He has done everything asked of him by the organization and improved his performance. Giving him a spot would send the right message to the rest of our farm system.

ofahn wrote:This would be a good time to DFA Ryan Adams. I see little chance of another team claiming him while he is on the DL.

Steve Johnson has EARNED a spot on the 40 Man Roster. He has done everything asked of him by the organization and improved his performance. Giving him a spot would send the right message to the rest of our farm system.

Not trying to start an argument-just a baseball conversation- why would you DFA Adams if you could just put S. Johnson on the roster? I know Adams is hurt but there is still a chance another team claims him. I think he could become vaulable at the ML level...at least with the bat. Why not just put Johnson on the 40-man?

osforlife wrote:Not trying to start an argument-just a baseball conversation- why would you DFA Adams if you could just put S. Johnson on the roster?

It's a valid question.

Taking Adams off of the 40 Man Roster right now is IMO the best chance we have of keeping him in the organization this season. He got off to a bad start and will be on the DL for about another month. Few teams would be willing to use a 40 Man spot RIGHT NOW for a player in those circumstances. If we used the last 40 Man spot for Johnson and then needed to open another spot in, say, late July for an acquisition then we might lose a Ryan Adams that came off of the DL and had a hot bat.

Of course, we could put Adams on the 60 Day DL but we would be facing the same situation of whom to expose when it was time for him to come off.

ofahn wrote:This would be a good time to DFA Ryan Adams. I see little chance of another team claiming him while he is on the DL.

Steve Johnson has EARNED a spot on the 40 Man Roster. He has done everything asked of him by the organization and improved his performance. Giving him a spot would send the right message to the rest of our farm system.

Not trying to start an argument-just a baseball conversation- why would you DFA Adams if you could just put S. Johnson on the roster? I know Adams is hurt but there is still a chance another team claims him. I think he could become vaulable at the ML level...at least with the bat. Why not just put Johnson on the 40-man?

The Orioles have officially added Steve Johnson to the 40-man roster today and that obviously comes as good news to the Baltimore native who is having a solid year at Triple-A.

Johnson had been on the disabled list since May 19 with a groin strain, but he came off the DL this weekend and is pitching right now for Norfolk in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

Johnson is 1-3 with an ERA of 2.62 over eight games and has a batting average against of just .191. He has given up just 30 hits over 44 2/3 innings with 13 walks and 36 strikeouts. Right-handed hitters are batting just .123 against him.

In the end, the Orioles, in my opinion, made the right move by adding Johnson. Not because he is a local kid or because his dad broadcasts for MASN, but because he pitched well enough to make the 40-man.

Had Johnson not been able to opt out of his contract, this may not have happened right now. It appears that Johnson did officially seek his release from the organization and then the club had 48 hours to decide whether to add him to the 40-man. At the end of the 48 hours, if Johnson were not added, then he could have officially taken the opt out and moved on to another organization, and there were others interested in him.

The Orioles today had to officially option Johnson to Triple-A so he now has two options remaining, one each for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. That is another reason to add Johnson. He won't be out of options before spring training in 2015, so he can go back and forth between Triple-A and the majors via options this year, next year and the season after that.

With the Orioles' rotation springing some leaks over the last few weeks, this was not the time for the team to let a pitcher throwing well at Triple-A get away and, in the end, they did not.